Single Driver Horn vs Multi driver efficient spker

Also while I'm at it... check these speakers out.
Orion loudspeaker. They look yummy! I'm still hankering to try this open baffle thing. If they sound anything like planars with dynamics I'm sold! :-)

Ok I decided to pick up a digital SPL meter and check some in room frequency responses of the FTA-2000. From some of the above comments it makes one think ..that single driver speakers are only made for simple and soft music..though I'm not a rocker.:-)
I do like dynamic music with some oomph. So here we begin.

The room used is 20x15x9. The speakers are 26 inches from the rear wall and placed along the long wall 8 ft apart.Speakers are towed in with the drivers pointed at my head..dead center.The SPL meter is set 2.8 meters away at the listening position.

Equipment used to do these tests is a basic el cheapo Pioneer reciever(maybe $100) and a Denon 900 dvd player.
The Pioneer reciever in real world watts,may only be putting out 15 or 20 wpc...just a guess.LOL The speakers are unassisted by subwoofers.I set the SPL meter to C weighting.

I set my test volume at 75dB from my listening position.This is what I used through all the test.

First test is frequency response from 16hz to 50hz. Each sinewave tone runs for ten seconds.

There's pretty much silence at 16hz,17hz,18hz,19hz and 20hz.Basically too low to read with the SPL meter ,which stops at 60dB.So what do you expect from a single 8 inch driver? I will start the chart at 21Hz.I had some trouble getting the 43hz and 44hz readings because they weren't burned on the disc properly. So I omitted them.At 21hz ..which I find nearly impossible to hear.I can only feel the pressure on my inner ear.Too me it's almost like being in a pressurizing cabinet of an airplane.

SPL FREQ variations from 75db at 2.8 meters
60dB 21hz -15
63dB 22hz -12
65dB 23hz -10
68dB 24hz -7
70dB 25hz -5
70dB 26hz -5
70dB 27hz -5
71dB 28hz -4
72dB 29hz -3
72dB 30hz -3
73dB 31.5hz -2
73dB 32hz -2
74dB 33hz -1
74dB 34hz -1
75db 35hz -0
75db 36hz -0
75dB 37hz -0
75db 38hz -0
76dB 39hz +1
76db 40hz +1
78dB 41hz +2
79dB 42hz +4
80dB 45hz +5
80dB 46hz +5
79dB 47hz +4
78dB 48hz +3
76dB 49hz +1
75dB 50hz -0

Next test was a 60 second Sinewave sweep from 200hz to 18hz.I set the SPL meter to read for 60 seconds and give me an average SPL over that period.
This test revealed an average variance of 1dB at 75 db from 2.8 meters away.The average SPL was 74dB from 200hz to 18hz for 60 seconds.Pretty impressive for a el cheapo reciever and dvd player me thinks.:-)Makes me wonder what I will get when I do the test using the good stuff. I can only think it will improve with better frequency response from the front end equipment.

Looks like I have a slight boost in the mid 40hz.Could be just the room interactions..who knows.Not really bad though.I also checked to see what my average listening level is. I don't know how some of you fellows listen past 85dB..which was too much for me to handle.I suspect the average audiophile listens at 70dB on average and maybe a bit lower.
I was bored today, so I figured why not play around and see what happens. I really got a kick out of it.
Maybe soon I'll check the frequency response from 1000hz up to 20khz and see where I'm at.
Who said single drivers don't have punch? LOL

Important to note.The only other speakers I've owned or heard that had a freq response similar. Were the Green Mountain Europas.No where near the low freq extention but within their limits exceptional.Anyone that doesn't believe there's a correlation between the less variation in the frequency response of a speaker the more realistic it sounds...haven't heard live music... Or just don't care IMHO.

Good listening!

Very good thread, indeed. I wish it excisted when I was looking.

I'm throughly happy with my Von Schweikert DB-100's and Art Audio Jota's which are SET at 20 watts. The speakers have a built-in bass amp. No problems with dynamics and extension through all the frequency ranges. The DB-100's no longer exist and have been replaced with the DB-99's. I always wondered why more companies didn't offer this type of multi-driver. I know they are more difficult to produce well. Also, so many folks are consumed by lots of watts. Then again, many speakers demand them.

Anybody actually auditioned the Zu speakers? I am primarily speaking of the Druid and the moniter.

Gmood1 I have "auditioned" a pair of Orions someone made. They were in a largish room ~300sq.
In short they do sound a lot

like planars with dynamics

as you say.
In fact they were outstanding. The ones I heard were driven by 8 channels of amplification and had the midwoof attached to the baffle (there's a mod available now if you want it mechanically decoupled).
If you can tackle the carpentry -- mostly straightforward -- you can get by with ~4k/pair investment (sourcing the assembled x-over from Mr. Linkwitz). I found the electronics a tad complicated to diy given my poor skills. Cheers